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Newman, the Oscar-winning soundtrack composer, has never shied away from controversy (see: “Short People,” still his biggest hit 40 years later). As shown by the new album’s “Putin,” a tongue-in-cheek ode to the President of Russia rendered in a tone of high absurdist melodrama, the 73-year-old Newman has not lost his edge.

But “The Great Debate” really goes all-out on button-pushing.

In a recent Pitchfork interview, where he explains every song on his album, Newman said that while he’s always pulling for science, he has to concede that faith is what ultimately wins the debate.

“Faith wins because it’s got Dorothy Love Coates, the Golden Gate Quartet, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, everybody,” he tells Pitchfork. “I don’t know whether I am a music lover, strictly – it’s hard to say how I feel about it – but I love good gospel music. No doubt.

“My side, the agnostic, atheist side, has got nothing like that,” he continues. “There’s no great song that’s like, ‘Let’s all not believe and play our agnostic hymnals!’ They got everything: the high ceilings, the confessions—man what a hit idea.”

Alas, he does not elaborate in the interview why the song is set in Research Triangle Park.

You can hear “The Great Debate” here, or below. And the entire “Dark Matter” album, which is garnering lots of critical acclaim, can be heard here.